Oklahoma Overcame Slow Start to Deliver the Signature Win of the Venables Era in Tennessee

KNOXVILLE — Things could have gotten ugly early at Neyland Stadium. 

Tennessee zipped right down the field on its first drive to go up 7-0, then Oklahoma’s offense stalled. 

Grayson Miller was forced to punt the ball back to the Volunteers from his own 39-yard line, and if Tennessee had put more points on the board, the Sooners might have succumbed to the atmosphere in Neyland. 

But Brent Venables’ team didn’t panic. 

Tennessee moved down the field again on its second drive, but Owen Heinecke lodged the ball from quarterback Joey Aguilar’s hands and it wound up in the arms of R Mason Thomas. 

He rumbled for a touchdown, and after OU allowed another field goal, the defense started to get its arms around Tennessee’s offense and Tate Sandell took over. 

Even as the Volunteers found success early, Venables was able to keep his team dialed in. 

“For some people, it’s like, ‘Oh my gosh,’ but for us, we’re fine. Calm down,” Venables said after OU’s 33-27 win. “…  Man, don’t panic. We’re going to be just fine and we’re going to keep playing. Remember, they’ve scored a nation-leading 121 points in the first quarter. They’ve blown everybody up in the first quarter.”

The scoop-and-score helped turn the tide on OU’s sideline. 

Adding a pair of interceptions by Peyton Bowen and Robert Spears-Jennings kept the momentum with Oklahoma, and it allowed the Sooners to work through the slow start. 

“Just belief,” quarterback John Mateer said. “Belief in the people on the other side on the defense and belief in ourselves. We didn’t get it done early in the game, but, I mean, we’re still going to have opportunities and we’re just confident in who we are.”

Oklahoma asserted itself at the end of the third quarter and into the fourth quarter. 

The Sooners did shoot themselves in the foot when Mateer threw an interception late in the fourth quarter that gave Tennessee new life, but after halftime, OU finally played complementary football for a sustained period of time against worthy SEC competition. 

“You’ve got to play the moment, you’ve got to walk it through and then believe, foundationally, that’s what it’s all about,” Venables said. “… You’ve got to walk the walk, you’ve got to (have a) kick-the-door-in type of mindset. That’s how tough and challenging it is. It takes those three things to win on the road.”

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OU was outgained 255-99 in total yards in the first half. 

In the second half, the Sooners out-rushed Tennessee 137 yards to 19, and had it not been for the late flurry of offense due to the Mateer turnover, Oklahoma would have dominated the second half total yardage. 

The defense came out on top against the SEC’s most explosive offense without starting linebacker Kobie McKinzie and without Thomas, who injured himself after the touchdown. 

Mateer struggled in the first half and the Sooners started three freshmen on the offensive line. But at the end of the night, Boomer Sooner drowned out Rocky Top, and it was Venables who embraced his quarterback with a big smile, not Josh Heupel.

“There’s going to be some type of narrative at the end of tonight, and it should look like we’re bringing respect to the name,” Venables said. “‘When are we going to be tired?’ Enough is enough. We’ve got to be able to overcome. We’ve got to make our plays. We’ve got to close someone out. Tonight was just kind of a start for that. You get one shot, you get one kill, that’s it. You don’t get to go back and do this again.”